Exclusive: EMC Syncplicity is About to Cozy Up to SharePoint #SPC14

Some cloud-based file sync and share vendors bill themselves as replacements for SharePoint. Syncplicity isn’t one of them.

The rockin’ hot EMC subsidiary has all of the good things that great start-ups are known for, plus a keen understanding of how enterprises operate and their requirements.

While Syncplicity is fully committed to mobile and cloud, it's not sure that it’s practical for every company to abandon current file-stores and repositories and to lob all of their content onto the cloud, right away, and all at once, just because it’s possible.

“Enterprises aren’t going to trash the technologies they’ve invested in every time something sexier and more efficient is introduced,” says Jeetu Patel, general manager of EMC Syncplicity. Not only that, but some content in existing repositories has workflows and such attached to it. Why would anyone want to lose that kind of information when they can leverage it?

It’s one of the reasons why Patel and his team have been busy building connectors between Syncplicity and Documentum repositories, Syncplicity and on-premises private cloud file shares such as EMC Atmos and EMC Isilon -- and that’s just the start.

“We’re not prejudiced about where data is stored," says Patel. “We want to provide file sync and share capabilities regardless of where information sits.”

EMC Syncplicity Connector for SharePoint

Later this week, at the SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Syncplicity team will offer a sneak peak at -- what’s tentatively being called -- the EMC Syncplicity Connector for SharePoint.

No, it’s not available yet, but if you’re at the conference you can see how it works, or simply read on.

The EMC Syncplicity Connector for SharePoint will enable mobile content access and editing of SharePoint files. According to VP of Marketing, Jeff Schultz, this boils down to providing support for SharePoint accounts and for accessing the sites and document libraries that you are already authorized to access.

The solution uses native authentication and takes advantage of existing access rules for viewing content, as well as checking in/out content for editing (which can be done directly in Syncplicity, there’s no need for a third-party editor).

No Information Silos

While the term “disruptive” isn’t normally associated with “information silo,” it actually does a pretty good job of describing what can happen when some files are pulled out of repositories and others are left behind, when some data is synched while other content isn’t.

EMC Syncplicity has taken a “no silos” strategy and the way that it's going about empowering users to share and collaborate on documents and other content, regardless of where it is stored, sets it apart from most other vendors in the space.

It’s worth noting that their mobile app, which we reported last month, has been built around the way work gets done and that the “EMC Syncplicity for SharePoint” app looks to be just as sexy.

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